LEWISTON – A local program that helps young high school dropouts work on their GEDs and learn carpentry has received a $443,921 federal grant.

The money will allow YouthBuild, run by Coastal Enterprises, to continue to build and teach, program director Sandy Goss said Tuesday.

“It’s huge,” Goss said. “And very few rural awards are given out. We’re thrilled.” Out of the 336 applications, only about a third received funding, and many programs are closing.

The announcement that the Lewiston program won the grant was made by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. It was one of 96 groups across the country awarded grants to provide construction teaching to at-risk youth, according to a Department of Labor statement.

The funding source for YouthBuild has shifted from U.S. Housing and Urban Development to the Department of Labor, Goss said, adding that competition for money has grown fierce.

In February, HUD awarded the Lewiston program $400,000 for 30 months. That grant now runs the program, Goss said. The new Department of Labor grant will be for one year. It will allow YouthBuild to construct a single-family home on Maple Street.

“We’re going to make this new house entirely a green building,” Goss said. Green buildings are built to specific environmental standards and designed to use less energy than traditional houses.

The target population for YouthBuild in Lewiston is 18- to 24-year-old disadvantaged youths; 75 percent don’t have high school diplomas and 50 percent are women. Agreements with Central Maine Community College and Lewiston-Auburn College allow participants to study for dual academic credits, making them eligible for national construction certifications and technical college credit.

With the larger grant, the Lewiston program will be able to take more students, up to 40 a year, but only 15 at a time. Some students stay only a few months, others for six months or more.

“These are very expensive programs to run,” Goss said. “We need a very high ratio of staff.” The program has about one staffer for every three students, who have multiple problems, including mental health, behavioral and substance abuse, she said. A majority are homeless and have dropped out of school.

YouthBuild students are renovating a single-family house on Spring Street behind Central Maine Medical Center. That home is expected to be complete in three months, Goss said. The house will be sold to a low-income family through a first-time buyers program.

Construction on the Maple Street green home is expected to begin in early 2008.